


For Sonny

by its_a_religion



Category: In the Heights - Miranda
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Date Night, Gen, He really loves sonny, I'm sorry all I ever write is angst, M/M, Pete can't pronounce any of the menu items, Pete has social anxiety, Pete is a bean, Pete is just a little outside his comfort zone yall, Social Anxiety, Some Fluff, Sonny goes all out, Sonny really loves Pete, idk I just love my sons but can only write angst so here, literally there is almost zero spanish bc I don't speak spanish, one year anniversary dinner date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-10
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2018-11-12 08:01:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11157648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/its_a_religion/pseuds/its_a_religion
Summary: Sonny and Pete are about to celebrate their one-year anniversary of dating and Sonny wants to go to a fancy Italian place. Pete is apprehensive but goes with it anyway. They talk about their feelings (mostly Pete's) and Sonny is super supportive and good.





	For Sonny

**Author's Note:**

> Alright so basically I have this theory that the reason Pete doesn't talk much in the show is because of his social anxiety. I also think that he doesn't realize that its ok to have social anxiety/doesn't realize he has social anxiety. So then this was born and per usual it sucks but here we are anyways because there isn't much harm that can come from my shitty writing I don't think.
> 
> Also for those of you who don't know 'Gnocchi' is pronounced like N-Yo-Key and they are essentially a bunch of little potato dumplings and they're delicious.

“We should go to a fancy restaurant or something for our one year,” Sonny said through a mouth full of chips.

 

“I don't know, man,” Pete responded as nonchalantly as he could, “fancy restaurants ain’t really my kinda thing.”

 

“You said that last week about McDonald's,” Sonny argued back, “don’t you think we should do something more romantic than sit here and eat takeout? We can dip into my lotto money for it, you know I got plenty.”

 

“I s’pose,” Pete replied with a noncommittal shrug.

 

“Great, I'll make a reservation. We should go shopping too. Get you something a little nicer than what you usually wear.”

 

Pete rolled his eyes, “do I have to,” he practically whined.

 

“Yes. I'm buying. We can go tomorrow.”

 

Pete sighed and nodded, conceding defeat. Going out somewhere nice, shopping, wearing a suit, these were all things Pete had zero interest in, but Sonny seemed eager to do something over the top so Pete had to comply. Anything to make his Sonshine happy.

 

***

 

“Wake up sleepy head, we are going shopping!” Sonny half shouted, far too peppy for the morning. Pete groaned and rolled over, glancing at the clock on the wall.

 

“Sonshine, I love you, but it is six in the fucking morning. If you ever wake me up at this hour again I will cut off your tongue, _comprendes?_ ”

 

Sonny let out a laugh and cuddled back into Pete’s side, “yeah, yeah, I get it. I'll give you another hour, but then we are leaving.”

 

Pete smiled and kissed the top of his boyfriend’s head, Sonny’s curls tickling his upper lip.

 

***

 

“Sonny there is no way in hell I am wearing that.” Pete stared at the outfit Sonny had concocted. It reminded him of the times Sonny had tried and failed, to create new slushie combinations.

 

“Yeah it's pretty bad isn't it,” Sonny said, giving the garments another look, “maybe we should get someone to help us.”

 

“No!” Pete all but shouted. Realizing Sonny’s confusion, he eased up, “no, I wouldn't want to bother them. It ain’t that hard, I just need a button up and a decent pair of pants. We both know I ain’t gonna wear a tie.”

 

Sonny looked at him incredulously, but, to Pete’s relief, didn’t question. After a bit more searching, they found a light blue shirt and a pair of black slacks. Pete didn't hate them so they decided to call that a win.

 

***

 

“Sonny why can't we just go see a movie or something for our anniversary?” Pete whined as Sonny got off the phone with the restaurant and sat down on the couch next to him.

 

“Because movies are tacky and this is our one year,” Sonny replied curtly, “why are you so against this?”

 

“I dunno man, it just isn't really my scene,” Pete said with a shrug, “a little outside my comfort zone.”

 

“It will be fun, Pete, stop stressing,” Sonny replied with a soft laugh, “we gotta celebrate! We’ve been dating for a whole year! It's time we do something more romantic than sit on your dirty couch and make out and fuck.”

 

Pete gave a forced half smile and nod before mumbling something about using the bathroom, then got up and walked away. He sat down on the cold tile floor with the door shut. His knees pulled into his chest and his head resting in his hands. “Calm down,” he whispered to himself, “it's just dinner, you can do this.” Pete was fighting back tears. He wanted to be able to do this, for Sonny, but he just wasn't sure that he could. He knew that he would look out of place in a place like that, he wasn't raised in opulence and it showed. He could see it now, everyone staring at him, laughing at him, talking about him. When it would come time to order he would probably mispronounce something and everyone would judge him or laugh at him. He could freak out and that would ruin it for Sonny. “Fuck,” he bit out. _Sonny_ . He had to do this _for Sonny_. Pete took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself, before returning to Sonny on the couch.

 

***

 

Pete fussed with the buttons on his shirt for the billionth time that night. He stared at himself in the mirror and shook his head realizing that no matter what he did he wouldn't feel good about how he looked, he wouldn't be comfortable. “ _For Sonny_ ,” he whispered to himself and walked out of the bedroom. He was greeted by a very excited Sonny who looked positively stunning in his suit. “Shit,” Pete gasped out, dragging his eyes over his boyfriend. He smiled when Sonny’s face turned pink all the way up to his ears. Pete pulled him in for a soft kiss, all his worries disappearing for a moment. Sonny pulled back after a few seconds, placing a hand gently on Pete’s chest.

 

“We gotta go or we’ll be late.”

 

Pete forced a smile and nodded, following Sonny out of the safety of Pete’s apartment.

 

They made their way through the summer heat to the fancy Italian restaurant Sonny had found. The walk was nice, Pete stayed grounded focusing on Sonny’s hand in his own. He tried his hardest not to worry about the evening, but there was so much that could go wrong that he had a hard time calming his mind.

 

The pair walked into the restaurant, Sonny practically dragging Pete inside. Pete stared intently at the floor as Sonny checked in. He hoped that if he stared hard enough the ground would swallow him up and he wouldn't have to be there anymore. _‘For Sonny,’_ he thought, forcing himself to look around as they followed the hostess to their table. Pete smiled as Sonny rambled on and on about the different dishes on the menu, but he didn't really engage in the conversation. He glanced down at his menu and realized he could barely read it. All the words were unpronounceable and the longer he stared at it the more his unease set in.

 

“Yo, man, you ok?” Sonny asked with genuine concern. Pete looked up and saw a pair of big brown eyes staring back at him. “Seriously babe, you good? You seem tense.”

 

“I can't pronounce any of this shit,” Pete said waving his menu slightly. “The people at the table over there,” Pete gave a slight nod in the direction of a table with an old couple, “they been giving us dirty looks all night. I dunno if it's cause we’re both dudes, or cause we ain’t upper class, or what. I guess I’m still just a little outside my comfort zone,” Pete ended lamely.

 

“Nah I’ve seen you outside your ‘comfort zone’” Sonny said emphasizing the phrase with finger quotes. “You asking Usnavi if I could stay at your place for the night, you asking Nina for advice on this or that, you every time Dani tries to tell you the latest gossip. That's ‘a little outside your comfort zone,’ but this, this is different. Tell me what's going on in that pretty little head of yours.” Pete couldn't say no to Sonny, he could never say no to Sonny, but it was getting harder and harder for him to focus on anything. Their waitress came up in that moment and asked for their drink orders, but it was clear Sonny was worried about Pete as he didn't stop to chat and instead just ordered them both waters and sent her on her way. “Pete please tell me what’s wrong,” Sonny implored.

 

“‘S nothing.”

 

“It's not nothing man, your leg is bouncing a million times a second. You look like you just saw a fucking ghost,” Sonny noticed how Pete winced and glanced around when he cursed, “that!” He practically shouted gesturing at his boyfriend who was closing in on himself more and more by the second. “Please tell me what’s wrong, let me help you,” Sonny tried again.

 

The pair sat in silence for almost a minute, just when Sonny was about to give up, Pete spoke. “It's always been like this, man. I dunno how to explain it. You know I'm shit with words. It's just like every time I go someplace, ‘specially someplace new, I overthink it. I get freaked out. Every instinct I got is telling me to get out of this place. Every time someone at another table laughs I feel like they laughing at me or us. Every look I catch, I see judgment. I don't know how to pronounce anything on this damn menu which means that I will get the same thing as whatever you get, even if I don't actually want it, just to avoid embarrassing myself. It's not just here either, it's just how I live my life.” Pete felt Sonny’s warm hand slip into his own clammy, shaking, one.

 

“You coulda just told me,” he said softly, “I can help you out if it would make you more comfortable.”

 

Pete dared a glance up at him again, expecting to find mocking or judgment, he was pleasantly surprised to find only love in Sonny’s expression. “I could order for you if you want,” Sonny offered, giving Pete’s hand a reassuring squeeze, “and next time we can go somewhere more chill, yeah?”

 

Pete gave his first genuine smile of the night and nodded.

 

“Ok, so what do you want? I'm thinking of either getting the Beef Braciole, or the the Penne Filetto di Pomodoro which looks really good too,” Sonny said looking up at Pete again.

 

“Man I don't have a clue what a single thing on this menu is,” Pete said guiltily, looking back at Sonny with a plea for help in his eyes.

 

“Well I know you like pesto, so how does Pesto Gnocchi sound?”

 

“The hell is neyo-- neyah-- that?” Pete questioned.

 

“It's like a little potato noodle ball thing,” Sonny explained poorly. Realizing the remaining look of confusion on his boyfriend's face he followed his previous statement up with an, “It's good you’ll like it,” and a flashy smile.

 

“I trust you, but if it's crap I'm eating yours.”

 

“Sounds like a plan.”

 

The waitress came up and took their orders, to Pete’s relief she looked at Sonny first. “I'll have the Penne Filetto di Pomodoro, and he’ll take the Pesto Gnocchi,” he said with a smile. The waitress nodded and left without question.

 

“Thank you,” Pete said sheepishly.

 

“Anything to make you happy, babe,” Sonny responded easily before leaning across the table and pulling Pete into a chaste kiss.

 

They talked the rest of the night away between bites of dinner, then gelato. They talked about everything and nothing and whatever else in between. By the time they left the restaurant Pete had calmed down considerably. “Thank you for taking us out tonight, cariño,” he said, giving Sonny’s hand a squeeze as they walked up the stairs to Pete’s apartment.

 

“Thank you for giving it a chance and for being so strong even when your anxiety was getting the better of you,” Sonny replied kindly. Pete stopped in his tracks and pulled Sonny back to him.

 

“Anxiety?” He whispered in a panicked tone.

 

“Uh, yes? Is that not what you call it? Social Anxiety?” Sonny looked at his boyfriend confused. “Babe, that's social anxiety if I ever saw it. It's not a bad thing, and you don't gotta be ashamed or nothin’ it just is what it is.” Seeing the distress on his boyfriend’s face, Sonny pulled him down into a hug, “I love you, Pete, don't ever forget that.” Sonny felt Pete relax a tiny bit.

 

“I love you too Sonny. I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Whew, you made it to the end! Thank you so much for reading. Please leave a comment telling me what you did/didn't like and leave me a kudos if you are feeling generous. Thank you so much for reading I love you all just as much as I love my boys!


End file.
